Stopping the swing!

[wstrngrl]

At the canter my lower leg tends to swing back and forth alot. It happens with and without stirrups, and even bareback. My thigh and seat are practically unmoving (especially bareback); but my lower leg UUGGHH!! Drives me nuts! :taz:

The only thing I've found that helps to steady it is to pull my toe up as hard as I can, and push my heel out. But this causes more stiffness though my body than I'd like (and requires ALOT of concentration, which is hard to maintain when I also have to work my horse :hammer: ).

When I have stirrups, I avoid pushing into my stirrups too hard, especially at the canter because it not only causes my lower leg to push forward (and upper body to push back) but also causes me to stiffen and brace my body; which doesn't help anything :no:

Are there any other suggestions for steadying my lower leg?

[CelticEquine]

I used to have that problem. The trick is, is to not stiffen your legs. It's better to be lose and relax than to try and force your feet to stay still.

[wstrngrl]

I'm not stiff at all, until I pull my toe up to stop the swinging :ninja:

I can't be stiff and sit the canter properly bareback, or sit the canter at all (with or without a saddle) on most of the horses I ride :rolleyes:

[d1nonlyrocketpony]

Canter in two point and post the canter. Should help. One of my errr....unlucky students hasn't sat a canter in a month for the exact same reason!!

[smorrow923]

It sounds like you're pinching at the knee. Pinching at the knee causes your lower leg to lose contact and therefore, it makes it swing. try riding without stirrups and think of your legs as wrapping them around the belly. hold on with your entire leg. Keep your heels down, toes out, etc but try this for a few weeks. You'll notice a huge difference and you can gradually wean yourself off the "whole leg" and move toards a more neutral leg position that incorporates your entire leg without being "clingy".

[katie]

I was going to say the same thing that smorrow did.

[WishMeLuckJSH]

Canter in two point and post the canter. Should help. One of my errr....unlucky students hasn't sat a canter in a month for the exact same reason!!

Renee Biggins taught me this as well! It's fun and it works!

[Sit]

I have no business posting here since I have only shown in eq one time in the last 50 years(I did win, however -- as incredible as that seems), but I was a "leg swinger" when I was a kid. Now, my feet and legs don't move much at any gait -- unless I want them to. The key for me is to ride a lot and to maintain proportionate distribution of my weight and light contact from my seat down my thighs (the most important part) and then have light, even contact with the stirrups -- and do all of that centered on the horse's back in a saddle that fits me with the stirrups in the position that fit me.

I'd have someone check your check foot position versus your shoulder and to see if you are balanced and sitting in the center of the horse in a properly fitting saddle (for you) with stirrups in the right position and length. Your arms must be in the right position too, of course. I know you may have already done all of this, but if you get positioned properly, have good balance, and are relaxed, that leg ain't gunna swing. And if it did because of nervousness, I'd have you swing that leg so much that you'd laugh and eventually get so tired that it would quit swinging on its own. You know sort of like warming up a colt or horse that feels good -- get the wiggle out of them and then go to work.

Or, if all else fails, do what my Dad had me do when I rode ten and under eq. I could keep one leg still, so he told me to swing the leg on the rail, not the one the judge could see. Won a lot of classes with that outside leg swinging away!

I know I am counter intuitive on a lot of things, but those are just my cheap and probably dumb suggestions.

[ASB Equestrian]

Or, if all else fails, do what my Dad had me do when I rode ten and under eq. I could keep one leg still, so he told me to swing the leg on the rail, not the one the judge could see. Won a lot of classes with that outside leg swinging away!

Hee hee, I'll have to try that :laugh:

[wstrngrl]

Today when I rode; I thought about "pushing" my knee down and keeping it bent; so the line of my leg was longer and my foot stayed under me more.

It actually kinda felt like my foot was behind "the line"; but since my foot spends most of it's time slightly in front of "the line"; it was probably right where it should be LOL (kinda like if we tend to lean forward, we feel like we're leaning back when we're sitting up straight; or in my case; I'm use to leaning back and feel like I'm leaning forward when I'm sitting up straight :whistling: )

I put just light pressure into my stirrups; and pulled my toe up just enough to keep my lower leg back/bent.

It seemed to work pretty well; my leg stayed alot steadier without being stiff. Though this is all going by feel; because there isn't anyone around to tell me what it LOOKS like LOL but it definitely feels better.

[JohnDeere]

Try bringing your heel back; not up and back, just straight back. When you look down, you should not be able to see any part of your toe in front of your knee: that's how you know your leg is in the right spot! :)

Another thing; try sinking down really deep into your seat/stirrups and imagine a rope is pulling your heel straight down toward the ground. But, don't lose the bend in your knee. :)

[EqDreams]

OK I used to have the same problem (and still do sometimes!!!) but my trainer has spent hours telling me that I have to strech all the way from my thigh. Don't just shove your heel down, strech it down, beginning from your thigh, going into your upper calf, then everything should drop nicely and stay in place.

I hope that helped :)

[HTS_rider]

I get this problem when I'm stiff, but to me it sounds like that is not the problem in your case. I was riding and a barn friend (national champ arabian eq rider for years) gave me some advice that changed my cantering as I know it.
You could try changing your hip position slightly, so that your hips are angled a little more forward than you're used to. At first I did this and felt as though I was leaning forward, but as long as your upper body is "correct" (ie shoulders open and back) this little trick is great. For the eq riders that have shorter legs (i'm 5'5" with a long torso and decently short legs) this helps elongate the legs, correct the pumping of the upper body and legs, and improves the overall picture. Don't know if that helps any...sounds like you've already got your solution! :thumbup1:

[SaDdLeBrEdS4LiFe]

this sounds very strange but i used to have this problem & i tryed multiple things to fix it but the only thing i found is when i ride i push my weight on my big toe, it seems to put my whole leg in the correct position & stop it from swinging.it works very well for me, hopefully it will help you.:)

[chelseab2005]

Hmm, this is a thinker. I used to have this problem when my legs suddenly grew about 2 inches and it looked as though I had forgotten what to do with 'em. It took a lot of work in the round pen and in two-point. Try dropping your stirrups and hold a two-point position. Start of doing a few laps at a time and work your way up to just staying there. I used to do this at the trot, walk , and canter. The tip about posting at the canter is good advice as well and it works. So does posting at the walk which is even harder since there is nothing pushing you out of the saddle. I started riding again after two years and with all that work to get my legs in place, I still have equitation legs. They just get an almost unnoticable swing at the trot, but that is easily remedied. Another thing that I learned from a well known trainer up north (he sold me my baby formerly known as "Skunk") is to do no-stirrup posting at the trot and see how long you can go. The more you work on it, the more your legs will become rock solid (figurativly speaking) on horseback.

[RackOn11]

In Helen Crabtrees book she explained it in Chapter 10. What it sounds like your doing is locking your knee back when riding, and so the lower leg will be forced forward to the pendulum swing when you sit in your post. To correct this relax and point your knee forwarwd and on the stirrup leather. Also what my trainer told me because I did this for awhile was to forget I had a lower leg for posting, as in dont use it use your thighs. And you say you dont put much weight in your stirrups, what you should do is keep them firm and definite at every gait. :) I hope this helped you!

[Meghan21291]

I used to have the exact same problem and two-point work and no iron work have done wonders for me. Before I start my ride I go into two-point for a minute or two just to lengthen, strengthen, and stretch out my lower leg. This exercise helps keep a strong leg underneath you. Its not an over night fix, but you will slowly see an improvement. Also try to sink down into your heels as much as you can as if all of your weight is down into your heels. With all of that weight down in your stirrups it should be virtually impossible to have that swing.

Hope this helps! :)